In Laos, hotels may be used to treat Covid-19 patients instead of field hospitals.

[ASEAN NOW]

 

In order to better cope with an increasing number of Covid-19 patients, Laos is considering converting underutilized hotels into temporary hospitals known as "hospitels."

The National Taskforce for Covid-19 Prevention and Control is examining new measures for limiting the spread of Covid-19, such as enabling people to self-isolate at home and possibly even allowing certain patients to self-treat at home.

 

According to the Lao Economic Daily, the Taskforce is now exploring creating hospitals in hotels after field hospitals were criticized by the public for their poor and sometimes unclean circumstances.

 

The usage of hotels would also make it easier for medical personnel to isolate Covid patients, ensuring that the disease's transmission is limited.

Dr. Lattanaxay Phetsouvanh, Director-General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, was quoted in the Vientiane Times as claiming that the government has already put up interim facilities in hotels throughout the country.

 

He claims that employing hotels as field hospitals is safer for the Lao people than treating them at home because each room is self-contained and has its own bathroom.